[APTA-2048]

This right here is the smoking gun for what we've observed on King Street. Cops don't enforce laws they don't like and too many of them are selfish drivers who don't even live in the city and see transit as a bunch of people in their way.

The fact that he feels comfortable posting this using a verified account with his real name says all you need to know about the police in Toronto.

 

[nightstreak]

I know that you and others here feel that one or two vehicles driving through on King is a sign of the end of civilization as we know it but, to be fair, the amount of through traffic on King is VASTLY reduced from the pre-King Street Transit Mall days. Yes, of course some people drive through (some are confused, others just in a rush) but there are honestly far larger problems.

The issue isn't the few cars that go through, it's that as you may or may not remember, cars were already prohibited from using the centre lanes before the King Street Pilot. It was just never enforced and it became a de-facto ghost rule that led to the worst congestion of our generation on King.
Looking away and letting cars through is boiling the frog and if the Mayor doesn't prioritize solidifying the transit priority corridor with hard streetscaping, then it's a matter of a switch in leadership to revert back literally overnight, as quickly as the pilot was switched over.

 

[nightstreak]

The fact that he feels comfortable posting this using a verified account with his real name says all you need to know about the police in Toronto.

This goes through the entire culture of the police and up to the very top. If I were Chief and my constables were openly stating they don't enforce the law, encouraging drivers to break it and insulting Torontonians on social media, reinforcing the view of police as an unaccountable mafia, that cop would be on parking enforcement duty the very next shift with performance reviews every week.

We need a mayor to crack this culture, Olivia Chow hasn't shown any interest in taking up that mantle. So, with drivers doing whatever they want in front of police who high five them on public forums, congestion will remain the worst in North America, surface transit will remain unreliable and VisionZero will remain a slogan.

 

[afransen]

This goes through the entire culture of the police and up to the very top. If I were Chief and my constables were openly stating they don't enforce the law and insulting Torontonians on social media, reinforcing the view of police as an unaccountable mafia, that cop would be on parking enforcement duty the very next shift with performance reviews every week.

We need a mayor to crack this culture, Olivia Chow hasn't shown any interest in taking that mantle. So, with drivers doing whatever they want in front of police who high five them on public forums, congestion will remain the worst in North America, surface transit will remain unreliable and VisionZero will remain a slogan.

Police are utterly unaccountable. Police union has a lot to do with this.

 

[DSCToronto]

The issue isn't the few cars that go through, it's that as you may or may not remember, cars were already prohibited from using the centre lanes before the King Street Pilot. It was just never enforced and it became a de-facto ghost rule that led to the worst congestion of our generation on King.
Looking away and letting cars through is boiling the frog and if the Mayor doesn't prioritize solidifying the transit priority corridor with hard streetscaping, then it's a matter of a switch in leadership to revert back literally overnight, as quickly as the pilot was switched over.

I continue to think you are exaggerating a fairly small problem - the King Street "Project" has been in force for several years and, despite only occasional enforcement, I really do not think there are more vehicles driving illegally recently. The prohibition on driving in the centre lanes really made very little sense as there were legal left turns allowed at many intersections so streetcars simply got stuck there. We both agree that getting better 'hard streetscaping' is essential and it IS disappointing (as reported by @Northern Light ) that the road and water and track work that must come first may not be completed until 2029.

 

[nightstreak]

I continue to think you are exaggerating a fairly small problem - the King Street "Project" has been in force for several years and, despite only occasional enforcement, I really do not think there are more vehicles driving illegally recently.

I'm not exaggerating. The evidence backs this, we all saw it with our own eyes.

Streetcars travelling slower on King Street than before the transit corridor pilot project

Traveling along King Street on a streetcar is as bad or worse for than it was prior to the pilot that was intended to make transit a priority on the main downtown corridor.

toronto.citynews.ca

The King Street priority transit corridor was on the verge of falling victim to the very outcome I described above in 2023, a mere few years after the King Street Pilot became permanent. It didn't take long at all form the city looking away from enforcement and for that to dramatically affect the performance of the 504.

Enforcement quickly brought it back. This is evidence that the lack of enforcement is not harmless. Without the enforcement, it reverts to where it was in 2023 and left that way, the 504 becomes unreliable again. So, let's not diminish the role of enforcement because one or two cars at a time doesn't look like a problem. It's boiling the frog, zoom out and look at the wider picture over time.

And like you and I agree, we can't keep relying on enforcement — see the police brosphere demonstration above. If Olivia Chow wins re-election and doesn't make this permanent with her 4 years, then it'll be dead in the next cycle. Waiting until 2030 will be too late as it'll be an election year and she'll chicken out of doing hard things again.

 

[facepalming_brooklynite]

Police are utterly unaccountable. Police union has a lot to do with this.

Toronto police are more likely to break traffic laws than to enforce them

 

[Monarch Butterfly]

In New York City, the buses have and use cameras for enforcement.

Since "Mayor" Doug Ford did not like speed cameras, we may not see camera enforcement on streetcars. Expect to see a veto from him. Amazing that we still have red light camera... for now.

Some school buses do have cameras. Haven't heard of them being used against motorists who pass the school buses with the school bus lights flashing, in Ontario. It's mandated by Transport Canada that school buses have cameras on their exterior, but beyond that?

 

[nightstreak]

Toronto police are more likely to break traffic laws than to enforce them

I just walked by King and Yonge only to find a clusterf*ck of cars stuck at the light — one of them had been there for 4 light cycles — others driving through.

Then I noticed a cop down the street in the position that you sometimes find cops patrolling the King Street priority corridor during a blitz. But car after car ran the red light (at that intersection it never turns green) and I approached, looked inside the cruiser and the cop was just staring at his phone, so enthralled that he didn’t even look up to see me.

It’s f*cking enraging — pardon my French— that we’re paying these guys thousands of dollars to sit in their cruisers and watch Netflix. I don’t know the solution but we need a Mayor to blow the entire TPS infrastructure up and start over.

 

[afransen]

Was driving behind an Audi with a polarized license plate cover. I assume to defeat red light cameras? That should be a $1000 fine, IMO. But of course, instead, police won't be arsed to even pull them over for a warning.

 

[Monarch Butterfly]

I just walked by King and Yonge only to find a clusterf*ck of cars stuck at the light — one of them had been there for 4 light cycles — others driving through.

Then I noticed a cop down the street in the position that you sometimes find cops patrolling the King Street priority corridor during a blitz. But car after car ran the red light (at that intersection it never turns green) and I approached, looked inside the cruiser and the cop was just staring at his phone, so enthralled that he didn’t even look up to see me.

View attachment 733694View attachment 733693

It’s f*cking enraging — pardon my French— that we’re paying these guys thousands of dollars to sit in their cruisers and watch Netflix. I don’t know the solution but we need a Mayor to blow the entire TPS infrastructure up and start over.

Yet. Ontario does not allow the use of RED arrow traffic SIGNALS, which would be of use along King Street. Along with specific transit signals.

Personally, if there are to be NO turns made, get rid of the yellow and green light bulbs entirely for the turns.

However, Ontario refuses to even look how other jurisdictions handle traffic signals.

 

[DSCToronto]

I just walked by King and Yonge only to find a clusterf*ck of cars stuck at the light — one of them had been there for 4 light cycles — others driving through.

Then I noticed a cop down the street in the position that you sometimes find cops patrolling the King Street priority corridor during a blitz. But car after car ran the red light (at that intersection it never turns green) and I approached, looked inside the cruiser and the cop was just staring at his phone, so enthralled that he didn’t even look up to see me.

View attachment 733694View attachment 733693

It’s f*cking enraging — pardon my French— that we’re paying these guys thousands of dollars to sit in their cruisers and watch Netflix. I don’t know the solution but we need a Mayor to blow the entire TPS infrastructure up and start over.

No point complaining to us, you could have noted the cruiser number and reported it to the TPS.

 

[nightstreak]

No point complaining to us, you could have noted the cruiser number and reported it to the TPS.

My cynicism is sky high. They do these things in public because they know their chief and their union will protect them.

This kind of behaviour does need to get into the media, I wish I had more leverage.

 

[Mihairokov]

Honestly, this whole King Street transit priority thing has made is sooooooooo clear that there are a ton of drivers on the road who don't know how to drive, don't read signs and often don't know what they mean.

There's typically three types of drivers on King;

• Those that understand the rules and follow them (most)
• Those who understand or don't understand the rules and don't follow them, happy to continue driving through lights and signs confidently.
• Those who don't understand the rules and sit in paralysis.

The third are the worst because they seem illequipped to drive in the city at all. Not sure what to do at intersections, not sure how to drive around cyclists, not sure how to drive around others. The most dangerous of all drivers, including when they block transit.

I really welcome an age of self driving cars ...

Self-driving cars won't eliminate bad drivers. They'll just add more traffic to our roads. We need to be eliminating cars entirely from our urban environment.

 

[nightstreak]

No point complaining to us, you could have noted the cruiser number and reported it to the TPS.

Hahahah! (crying inside) Case in point: he’s a supervisor.

Who supervises the supervisors?